2017 Awards for Excellence in Government Finance Winner

The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) announced the winner of its 2017 Awards for Excellence in Government Finance at GFOA’s annual conference in Denver on May 23rd.

This year’s winning entry of the Awards for Excellence is in the area of capital financing and debt administration:

DC Water: Managing Project Risk through Environmental Impact Bonds

DC Water issued the nation’s first environmental impact bonds to fund the inaugural project for its green infrastructure program. The green infrastructure program is designed to help control the combined sewer overflow issues on major waterways in the DC area. The environmental impact bonds will not only fund the initial project, but also help to mitigate the risk associated with whether or not this initial project meets DC Water’s stormwater management requirements. The environmental impact bond’s rate of return depends on the infrastructure meeting these requirements, where investors will only be paid if the standards are met and if standards are not met, investors will make a risk share payment back to DC Water.